Consistency between Beliefs, Attitudes, and Actions
Do teachers practice what they preach? Studies of congruency between teacher beliefs and practices have been conducted for a long time and much of the more recent research confirms earlier findings (McMullen et al; Vartuli, 1999). Children benefit from consistency when a teacher’s practices are congruent with a belief system that reflects a well-developed knowledge base and experience with children over time (Buchanan, Burts, Bidner & White., 1998; DeWitt, 2015; McMullen, 1999; Stipek & Byler, 1997).
Unfortunately teachers sometimes say one thing and do another, especially when they are expected to use practices that conflict with their personal philosophy (Mayo, 2010). Typically this happens when teachers must use a curriculum or approach that they do not fully support, perhaps because they feel it is not developmentally appropriate (Burts, Hart, Charlesworth & Kirk, 1990; Charlesworth, Hart, Burts, Thomasson, Mosley & Fleege, 1993). Further, teachers tend to perceive their teaching orientations as either/or choices between basic skills and child-centered approaches (McMullen et al., 2006; Stipek & Byler, 1997). Teachers of younger children tend to believe in and use child-centered approaches more than do teachers of elementary school children (Buchanan, 1998). Most teachers do seem, however, to acquire the ability to operate out of a pragmatic or practical perspective and do what they think best for their students regardless of whether or not that is consistent with the theoretical orientation of the curriculum in use (McMullen, 2006).
